Highlights from Pope Francis' May 24-26 trip to the Holy Land.

Pope, arriving in Holy Land, calls for religious freedom in Middle East

AMMAN, Jordan (CNS) -- Pope Francis began a densely packed visit to the Holy Land with a call for religious freedom in the Middle East, including respect for the right to change one's religion. Religious freedom is, in fact, a fundamental human right, and I cannot fail to express my hope that it will be upheld throughout the Middle East and the entire world, the pope said May 24 in a speech to local dignitaries shortly after his arrival in Jordan. Starting his fast-paced three-day visit, which was scheduled to take him to Israel and the Palestinian territories, the pope said Jordanian Christians, who make up less than 2 percent of the country's population, are able to profess their faith peaceably, in a climate of respect for religious freedom, and he thanked Jordan's King Abdullah II and the country's Muslim community for their support of interreligious dialogue with Christians and Jews. A number of Middle Eastern governments, however, prohibit or restrict the practice of any religion besides Islam. Quoting Pope Benedict XVI, Pope Francis said the right to religious freedom necessarily includes the freedom to choose the religion which one judges to be true and to manifest one's beliefs in public. In his welcoming remarks to the pope, the king deplored the terrible cost of sectarian and interreligious conflict and said Arab Christians are an integral part of the Middle East. The king also spoke of the need to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying the status quo of justice denied to the Palestinians, fear of the other, fear of change -- these are the ways to mutual ruin, not mutual respect.

At Amman Mass, pope calls on Christians to promote peace

AMMAN, Jordan (CNS) -- Celebrating Mass on his first day in the Holy Land, Pope Francis said hope for peace in a region torn by sectarian conflicts comes from faith in God. The way of peace is strengthened if we realize that we are all of the same stock and members of one human family, if we never forget that we have the same heavenly father and are all his children, made in his image and likeness, the pope said May 24 in his homily at Amman's International Stadium. Diversity of ideas and persons should not trigger rejection or prove an obstacle, for variety always enriches, he told the congregation of some 30,000 people. We ought, therefore, to show concrete signs of humility, fraternity, forgiveness and reconciliation. Peace is not something which can be bought, the pope said. It is a gift to be sought patiently and to be crafted through the actions, great and small, of our everyday lives. The pope acknowledged the presence in the congregation of many Christian refugees from Palestine, Syria and Iraq, asking them to take his greetings to their families and communities, and assure them of my closeness.

At River Jordan, pope meets suffering, speaks against arms trade

AMMAN, Jordan (CNS) -- Jordan's powerful and marginalized joined together at the banks of the River Jordan to welcome Pope Francis at the site believed to be where Jesus was baptized. Jordan's King Abdullah II, his wife, Queen Rania, and Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad bin Talal, the monarch's personal representative and special adviser on religious matters, welcomed the pontiff to an intimate setting of reflection, followed by testimonials of courage in the face of life's difficulties. There, near the banks of the River Jordan the pope prayed, spoke and blessed Syrian and Iraqi refugees sheltering in Jordan, along with Jordanian orphans, the sick, and the disabled who shared their stories. The pope signed a welcome book, his message reading, I ask the all-powerful and merciful God to teach us all to walk in his presence with our souls and feet uncovered and our hearts open to divine mercy and love for our brothers and sisters. In that way, God will be all in all and peace will reign. Thank you for offering humanity this place of witness. Francis. 24.5.2014. In a papal address, Pope Francis hit hard on those who perpetrate and perpetuate wars, instead saying that peace must be pursued particularly in the troubled Middle East region. Arms are the main reason for the war. ... We pray for those making and selling arms, that compassion fill their hearts, he said. He singled out Syria, in desperate need of healing and peace. We are profoundly affected by the tragedies and suffering of our times, particularly those caused by ongoing conflicts in the Middle East. I think particularly of Syria, rent by nearly three years of civil strife, which has led to countless deaths and forced millions to flee and seek exile in other countries, he said.

In Bethlehem, near site of Christ's birth, pope speaks out for children

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (CNS) -- Celebrating Mass a few steps from the spot traditionally believed to the birthplace of Jesus, Pope Francis said that the way society treats its young reveals its moral character. Children are a diagnostic sign, a marker indicating the health of families, society and the entire world, the pope said May 25 in Manger Square, outside the Church of the Nativity. Wherever children are accepted, loved, cared for and protected, the family is healthy, society is healthier and the world is more human. The Bethlehem Mass was the only Mass for local Christians during Pope Francis' two days in the West Bank and Israel, the second and third legs of a three-day journey to the Holy Land. The Mass was limited to about 10,000 people, but the crowd was enthusiastic, and many arrived while it was still dark to get a spot. Pope Francis told those gathered in the square that children need to be welcomed and defended, from the moment of their conception. He said all too many children continue to be exploited, maltreated, enslaved, prey to violence and illicit trafficking. Still too many children live in exile, as refugees, at times lost at sea, particularly in the waters of the Mediterranean, he said, in apparent reference to African refugees trying to make their way to Europe. Today, in acknowledging this, we feel shame before God, before God who became a child. After the Mass, the pope met with Palestinian refugee children from four different camps in the West Bank. He told them not to let the past hinder them, but to always look to the future.

Pope invites Israeli, Palestinian leaders to Rome to pray for peace

JERUSALEM (CNS) -- Pope Francis invited Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli President Shimon Peres to pray together at the Vatican for peace between their nations. The pope made the announcement May 25, after praying the Regina Coeli at the end of Mass that Abbas attended in Manger Square, in Bethlehem, West Bank. Later in the day, arriving at Israel's Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, Pope Francis was greeted by Peres and by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. There the pope repeated his invitation to Peres using exactly the same words with which he had invited Abbas. He also urged Israel to stay on the path of dialogue, reconciliation and peace, saying there is simply no other way. He said that both states have rights to existence and security. The right of the state of Israel to exist and to flourish in peace and security within internationally recognized borders must be universally recognized, the pope said. At the same time, there must also be a recognition of the right of the Palestinian people to a sovereign homeland and their right to live with dignity and with freedom of movement. Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, told journalists no date had been set for the prayer session in Rome, but that he hoped it would be soon. Father Lombardi said as far as he knew no pope had ever issued a similar invitation.

Pope urges Palestinian refugees to look to future

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (CNS) -- Pope Francis told young Palestinian refugees to look to the future and to always work and strive for the things they wanted. Remember that violence cannot be defeated by violence; violence can only be defeated with peace -- with peace, effort and dignity to move the nation forward, he told those who greeted him during a 20-minute visit at the Dehiyshe Refugee Camp's Phoenix Cultural Center. He entered the center flanked by a boy and a girl in traditional dress. Children wearing white caps and shirts held up signs in English and Arabic with slogans such I've never seen the sea and I want freedom of worship. Speaking in Spanish, which was translated into Arabic by a Franciscan father, Pope Francis said he had understood the children's English words, and the Arabic had been translated for him. I understand what you are telling me and the message you are giving me, he said. Don't ever allow the past to determine your life, always look forward. But do and act and strive for the things you want. A boy from the camp welcomed the pope in the name of all the children and told him that the camp was a symbol of Palestinian suffering. We Palestinian Christians and Muslims believe in one God, who created the world, and we were created not to fight and be divided but to be united, said the boy, whose name was not released. We children of Palestine have not lost hope for the future, and your visit to Bethlehem strengthens our feeling that we must have peace even though we are living under the oppressive occupation of our country. We appreciate all the values you represent, and we would like to live in peace and dignity in our land and our country.

Fifty years later, pope and patriarch meet again in Jerusalem

JERUSALEM (CNS) -- Half a century after a historic encounter between their predecessors, Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew met in the same place to seek inspiration for Christian unity at the site of Christ's death and resurrection. We need to believe that, just as the stone before the tomb was cast aside, so, too, every obstacle to our full communion will also be removed, the pope said May 25 during a prayer service at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Every time we put behind us our longstanding prejudices and find the courage to build new fraternal relationships, we confess that Christ is truly risen, the pope said. The pope also spoke of an ecumenism of suffering, an ecumenism of blood, which brings Christians closer through the common experience of persecution. When others kill Christians, he noted, they do not ask if they are Catholic or Orthodox. Patriarch Bartholomew said Jesus' tomb sends the message that history cannot be programmed; that the ultimate word in history does not belong to man, but to God. In vain did the guards of secular power watch over this tomb. In vain did they place a very large stone against the door of the tomb, so that none could roll it away. The patriarch said the tomb also encourages Christians to love the other, the different other, the followers of other faiths and other confessions. Their prayer service marked the 50th anniversary of an encounter in Jerusalem between Pope Paul VI and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras of Constantinople. The earlier meeting, which led both churches to lift the mutual excommunications that started the East-West schism in 1054, opened the modern period of ecumenical dialogue.

On last morning in Holy Land, pope reaches out to Muslims, Jews

JERUSALEM (CNS) -- Pope Francis spent the last morning of his three-day pilgrimage to the Holy Land meeting with Muslims and Jews and calling for closer relations among the three major monotheistic religions as the basis for peace in the region. At his first appearance May 26, Pope Francis toured the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount, sacred to Muslims as the place from which Mohammed ascended to heaven, and spoke to Muslim leaders. Addressing his listeners as brothers, the pope pointed to Abraham as a common model for Muslims, Jews and Christians, since he was a pilgrim who left his own people and his own house in order to embark on that spiritual journey to which God called him. In his remarks to the pope, the grand mufti of Jerusalem, Muhammad Ahmad Hussein, accused Israel of impeding Muslims' access to Jerusalem's holy sites. Pope Francis then visited the Western Wall, the only standing part of the foundation of the Second Temple, destroyed in A.D. 70. The pope stood for more than a minute and a half with his right hand against the wall, most of the time in silent prayer, before reciting the Our Father. Then he followed custom by leaving a written message inside a crack between two blocks. The pope also visited a memorial to victims of terrorism where he prayed with his hand against the stone. Following a brief wreath-laying at the grave of Theodor Herzl, father of the Zionist movement that led to Israel's founding, Pope Francis visited the Yad Vashem Memorial to victims of the Holocaust. Pope Francis' next stop was a visit to the two chief rabbis of Israel, leaders of the country's Sephardic and Ashkenazi communities.

Pope Francis thanks religious for their presence in Holy Land

JERUSALEM (CNS) -- Pope Francis dedicated his final hours in Jerusalem to time with local Catholics, reminding them that despite difficulties, God is always by their side. He never abandons us. And so, let us not be overwhelmed by fear or disheartened, but with courage and confidence let us press forward in our journey and in our mission, he told priests, men and women religious and seminarians in the Church of All Nations at the foot of the Mount of Olives. Supporting their vocations, he told them their presence in the Holy Land was very important, and the church was grateful to them. In the church, at the site of Jesus' passion in the Garden of Gethsemane, the pope asked the religious to reflect on how they would have acted in place of the disciples, and he urged them to remain steadfast in their faith. Here, in this place, each of us -- bishops, priests, consecrated persons, and seminarians -- might do well to ask: Who am I, before the sufferings of my Lord? he said, asking if they would have remained loyal or abandoned, denied and betrayed Jesus. On Golgotha, when everything seemed bleak and all hope seemed pointless, only love proved stronger than death. The love of the mother and the beloved disciple made them stay at the foot of the cross, sharing in the pain of Jesus, to the very end.

Pope says his 'most authentic' gestures in Holy Land were spontaneous

ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT FROM TEL AVIV (CNS) -- During an inflight news conference May 26 on his return to Rome from the Holy Land, Pope Francis answered several questions about his just-ended three-day visit, giving reporters insights into his thinking and glimpses behind the scenes of the high-profile events. Regarding his dramatic gestures during the visit, when he prayed at the controversial Israeli-built separation wall in the West Bank and kissed the hands of Holocaust survivors, the pope said the most authentic gestures are those you don't think about ... mine were not planned gestures, it just occurs to me to do something spontaneously that way. The pope said he had considered inviting Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to pray with him for peace during the visit, but there were so many logistical problems, so many, the territory where it should happen, it wasn't easy. Instead, he invited the two leaders to join him later at the Vatican for the purpose. Both have accepted, but a date for the event has not been set. On the status of Jerusalem, which Israel has controversially declared its complete and united capital, the pope suggested part of the city might serve as capital for Palestinians under an eventual two-state solution, but that in any case it should be a city of peace for Christians, Muslims and Jews. In response to a question about the possible beatification of the wartime Pope Pius XII, who many critics argue did not do or say as much as possible against the Nazi genocide of the Jews, Pope Francis did not comment on the controversy but said he could not even consider the possibility of beatification in the absence of at least one miracle recognized as attributable to late pope's intercession. Asked about his meeting in Jerusalem with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, the pope said they discussed what he called the ridiculous problem of Catholic and Orthodox churches celebrating Easter on different dates, and the possibility of common efforts by the churches to protect the natural environment.

May 27, 2014